This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for providing electric power to a device and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to apparatus and methods for recharging batteries in electric vehicles.
With the diminishing amounts of petroleum and the increasing price therefor, the need for electric vehicles has increased. Just as gasoline-powered vehicles need to be refueled, electrically powered vehicles must be periodically reenergized. To reenergize an electric vehicle, electric power must be provided to recharge the energy storage device or devices contained within the vehicle. Therefore, as the need for electric vehicles has increased, the need for apparatus and methods by which the electric vehicles can be recharged has increased.
So that recharging can be conveniently performed, it is desirable that such recharging apparatus and methods be operable in response to the receipt of some medium of exchange, such as coins or similar tokens, so that a selectable quantity of power can be purchased to recharge the vehicle. So that such apparatus and methods can be economically used, it is also desirable that they function over extended periods of time without being supervised by the electric vehicle driver or other person.
If these apparatus and methods are to operate without human supervision, it is necessary that they further include the feature of detecting when a power theft is attempted. That is, it is desirable that such apparatus and methods detect an interruption in the dispensing of power thereby and cease dispensing additional power after the interruption unless an additional amount of the medium of exchange is received. Because an interruption in the dispensing of power may occur from a natural cause, such as a storm, the apparatus and methods must include features which permit them to distinguish between conditions indicating this type of interruption and conditions indicating an interruption possibly caused by a potential power thief.
To further facilitate non-human supervised operation, such apparatus and methods should detect when operation is not needed (e.g., when no power for recharging a vehicle has been purchased) and cease operating in response thereto to conserve energy.
To further make such apparatus and methods convenient to use, it is desirable that the apparatus be relatively small so that it can be located at individual vehicle parking spaces. To achieve this relatively small size, and yet retain the previously described features, it is desirable that the apparatus include and electronic computer for controlling the operation of the recharging apparatus.
Although there have been other proposals for dispensing electric power to storage devices, and in particular to storage devices in electric vehicles, I do not believe that any devices or proposals known to me disclose or suggest an apparatus and method having these previously described features and constructed in accordance with the present invention as subsequently described hereinbelow.